This symposium marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Betty Friedan’s groundbreaking book The Feminine Mystique. Friedan, a union activist and journalist, transformed the national conversation about the role of women in American society with her book, leading to the creation of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1965. This event features presentations and intergenerational dialogues about feminism’s past and present, particularly responses to and the continuing relevance of The Feminine Mystique.

Co-sponsored by The New School for Public Engagement and Parsons the New School for Design. This symposium is organized in conjunction with The Sexual Revolution and the Public Sphere (NHUM3070), a new course listed in the Spring 2013 course bulletin, and a historical exhibition at the Aronson Gallery in the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center (running February 22 through March 6).